Statement of Purpose

[runnnincircles]

I am applying to Mathematics Graduate programs for next fall and I need to come up with a statment of purpose but I'm not sure what a statment of purpose is supposed to look like. The instructions are fairly vague. Does anyone know where I might be able to read an example of one? It would be especially helpful if it were for a Math PHD program, but

Comments

[royalewcheeze]

Agreement with the other posters: if the programs you are applying to require the Math subject GRE, you pretty much have no choice but to wait. Your application will be incomplete without it, and it takes 4-6 weeks from the test date for your scores to show up at said institution. So if the next test date isn't until April 15, it could potentially be June before your scores got there. Decisions on which applicants to admit are usually made in February and March and MUST be made by April 15.

And seconding what brittdreams said: it is late in the game for you to have no idea what an SOP should contain. At this point in the game for me, last year, my SOP had been written for a few months and had been heavily edited by all of my recommenders, my scores had been sent in weeks and weeks ago, (and I still worried about them not getting there on time) and I was pretty much done.

I say this not to discourage you, but to help you potentially save some money (applications/sending score reports=EXPENSIVE) and to help you strengthen your application for next year. If I were in your position, I would consult with the people that are writing your recommendations (hopefully faculty at your university) and get feedback regarding expected timelines and writing a very strong statement of purpose.

Good luck! I know it can be disappointing to hear you should wait, but I think it's better than wasting your money. =/